


Kira is Coming to Town

by Truly_Hopeless



Category: Death Note & Related Fandoms, Death Note (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Christmas, Death Note Exists as a Fictional Work, L (Sort Of) Won (Death Note), Light and Misa Had a Child, Misa Doesn't Remember Being Kira, Murder, The Child Has Shinigami Eyes, The Public Does Not Know Kira Exists, Trust Issues
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-18
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:47:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,221
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28154847
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Truly_Hopeless/pseuds/Truly_Hopeless
Summary: A new Kira emerges during the Holiday season, one who includes children and teens in the list of people to die. As L and the Task Force work to track down "Kira Clause," Mizuki is trying to come to terms with all that she has learned about her father and about herself.
Relationships: Amane Misa/Yagami Light (past), L & Yagami Light, L and Original Character
Kudos: 2





	1. Chapter 1

_You better watch out_   
_You better not cry_   
_You better not pout I'm telling you why_   
_Santa Claus is coming to town_

The song had played five times today and L could not help but feel he was being mocked.

Of all the times a new Kira had to show up, it had to be during the Holiday season.

And to make matters worse, this Kira seemed to be emulating Santa in the worst way by using winter and Christmas elements to kill people and by targeting children and teens in addition to adult criminals. This particular detail put Watari on edge; the last time L had seen his handler this angry was during the investigation of St. Martin's Orphanage, where hundreds of kids were being beaten and belittled by the people in charge and a select few were put through "tests" for some unknown purpose that resulted in suicide for some and PTSD and behavioral problems for the rest. Of course he wouldn't take "Kira Claus" (as Matsuda decided to call him, though L felt Near's preferred nickname "Kira Fouettard" or "Krampus Kira" as Mello suggested were more accurate names) causing children to drown in icy lakes or eat holly berries well.

" _Children need to be free to live and learn from their mistakes and there are times, especially in their adolescence, where they need to act out. Using the Death Note to punish children for misbehaving does nothing to help anyone; the dead child will have no chance to get better, their parents are left to mourn their death and will likely feel responsible for it, and the only thing other children will learn is to not get caught if they even realize that this is supposed to be a warning._ "

L agreed. His sympathy for adult criminals dying was limited, especially if they were a special breed of evil that posed as someone meant to help the weak ( ~~you won that argument, Light; too bad no one else understood that nuance~~ ), but minors were a different matter. Yes, teenagers could do monstrous things--Light, Misa, even L himself were all proof of that--but they still have a chance to change their ways and improve the world around them so they did not deserve to be killed with the Death Note. And most children are very impressionable and don't know better so killing them for being bad--or, in many cases, perceived as being bad--was especially low of this new Kira.

So L's drive to stop Kira was strong, probably stronger than it had been in a while. But the timing frustrated him to no end since he always found it hard to focus on cases during the Holidays and it got harder ever since he began working with the Task Force in person rather than shut himself up in a dark room. There were just too many unpleasant memories attached to Christmas for him to think straight sometimes and he needed to take breaks in order to recenter himself.

But he couldn't really do that with Kira since letting his guard down at the wrong time could spell doom for L and everyone else on the Task Force and likely their families as well. So he'd just have to stick it out and hope that Kira was caught quickly.

* * *

December 7, 2010, Task Force Headquarters, Afternoon

"So, do we have any leads on where Kira could be?" L asked as he put as many marshmallows into his hot chocolate as the mug would allow.

"Of the suspicious accidents so far, the majority of them appear to be in the North American continent," Aizawa said. "Though as for pinning down a specific city, assuming that Kira's even over there, that will be difficult since the deaths are scattered throughout all the states as well as Canada and Mexico."

"England and India also have many suspicious accidents and one death involving a heart attack for each of them, and while the numbers in Japan are small for now, there are some accidents occurring in Tokyo. And one of the heart attack victims was a child with no prior heart problems, in case there was any doubt that this is the work of Kira." Yagami sounded saddened and disgusted at the same time as he finished that sentence and he and Aizawa shared a look. It was a hard portion of the case for the Chief to handle, having already lost one child to Kira (and for extra salt in the wound, that child actually was Kira) and fearful of his remaining family getting caught in the crossfire, and Aizawa had his own family to worry about so this likely wasn't the way he wanted to spend his December either.

"Anything else?" L sipped at the hot chocolate.

Matsuda spoke up. "A large number of the victims appeared to have been active social media users or were related to someone who was. There are a lot of photos of them and their families online as well as a few videos."

"So you believe that Kira might be using social media to look for victims?"

"Yeah. And I think for some of them they might be traveling around in order to do so since from what I can see in the videos, there's very little that would justify killing them--thinking as Kira Claus, of course, because, outside of truly awful people like child abusers or rapists, I can't justify any of their deaths."

"Good observation, Matsuda-san." _Still don't like that nickname, though._ "I'll see about requesting some associates of mine to investigate those areas. Mogi-san, you and Matsuda-san should gather data on the victims' social media--where they lived, who they knew, anything that might be useful." As the Task Force set about to look for more information on Kira, L considered his options on who to ask to investigate and where he should send them.

 _Mello and Near are already in England and they said they'd always be available, I believe Linda said she was touring India to look for inspiration for her artwork so it shouldn't disrupt her schedule too much, and I just need to convince Matt to do some investigating while in New York. Kujo is starting to talk to me again, but I'll wait a bit before I request her help; she is currently living in Seattle...with **her**._ L had to stop himself from sighing; he was already depressed enough, best not to think about that child right now, the one who he last remembered having an intense anger directed toward him in her tear-filled blue eyes. _Eyes... Wait. Dear God, how could I forget?!_

"Also, a reminder to be careful who you give out your real name to and for an additional precaution, make sure you do not appear in any televised broadcasts or social media posts. While we cannot confirm that this Kira has made the Shinigami Eye deal yet, it's best that we not risk it. And Yagami-san, if you get the chance to see your granddaughter again in the near future, be sure to warn her to stay away from cameras as well. Same goes to you if you see her first, Matsuda-san, since you are her mother's manager."

" _Ryuzaki_ ," Watari's voice came over the intercom, " _Mizuki Amane is outside of headquarters_."

"What?!" Matsuda looked worried. "Oh no, Misa-Misa's gonna kill me!"

"That's the least of our worries." Aizawa frowned. "How the Hell did she find us?"

After a long moment of thought, L finally spoke. "Watari, let her in."

A few moments later, a small six-year-old girl with elbow-length dark brown hair and a pair of anxious amber eyes peeking out over a violet scarf stood before the Task Force. Mizuki's eyes went from face to face, finding L's last--with her eyes lingering a second too long for L's comfort at a spot above his head--before she started speaking.

"Good afternoon, everyone. I hope you're doing well."

"Mizuki-chan, what are you doing here?" Matsuda scolded. "You're supposed to go home after school. How did you even find us?"

"Mom went out to do Christmas shopping shortly after I came home and said she won't be back until later tonight so you don't have to worry, Uncle Matsu; if she comes home before I do and asks where I've been, I'll just say that I left my pencil case at school and you took me to the park again after that. As for how I found you all, I looked for the street that I saw from the upper windows last time I was here, when Ryuzaki took me here, and went on from there. And no, I wasn't followed here, I made sure to check behind myself."

"But why are you here?" Yagami looked even more distressed now that his granddaughter, who he first met earlier in the year, was, once again, inside Task Force Headquarters. "This isn't a place you can just come to because you're feeling lonely and while it's good that you took precautions, it's still too dangerous for you to be here."

"I didn't come here out of loneliness or boredom. I came here because I want to help you catch Kira."


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mizuki makes her case to the Task Force.

This past year was not normal for Mizuki Amane. Granted, very little about her life before could be considered normal, but this was the year that any pretense of normalcy was ripped away from her, all because of who she was and the people who entered her life.

She learned the horrifying truth behind the numbers that apparently only she could see by seeing someone die on her birthday, got kidnapped on the same day by a man named L when he realized she could see names as well and saw her almost pick up a strange notebook with the words "Death Note" on it (though he did let her go the next day, after making her promise to never use the Death Note), found out that both of her parents (including her absent father, Light Yagami) were murderers known as Kira before she was born (and their actions were the reason she had been born with Shinigami Eyes), got kidnapped again a few months later when another person acting as Kira realized she had the Eyes and wanted to use her, was harassed by this Kira's Shinigami (a skeletal monster called Natosu) who kept urging her to usurp him as Kira, somehow managed to escape but with no clear memory of how, and now had virtually no privacy because of the cameras set up in her house and the people who followed her everywhere.

While there was a silver lining since she got to meet her grandfather after being kept in the dark, so to speak, about anything regarding her father for so long (he even started visiting her and Mother to build a relationship with both of them), she hated that she knew of so many horrible things, hated that she was unable to talk to anyone about what she went through save for Uncle Matsu and Grandfather (and even if she did tell others, they'd probably dismiss it as her having an over-active imagination after reading the manga [or, if the person was more condescending and assumed she couldn't read, watching the anime] at such a young age), and above all else hated that L had so little trust in her, in both staying out of danger and not becoming Kira, that he was now starting to do with her all the things he did with her father.

 _How long before he handcuffs you to him?_ a voice in her head, one that sounded a lot like Natosu, sneered. _Or keep you in a little cage when he can't watch you?_

 _That never happened,_ Mizuki rebutted, though not out loud since she didn't want L to think she was talking to a Shinigami when she wasn't. _The handcuff thing is fiction and the fictional L only did it because he still knew nothing about Death Notes. The real L, the one who knows all the rules about the Death Note, would feel no need to do that and I doubt he would humiliate me like that._

_Maybe he won't go **that** far with you, but you have to admit that he will take you away again the second you do something wrong. And, unlike last time, he won't let you go no matter how much you cry. The only reason he hasn't done so already after the Yotsuba incident is because he's afraid that your mother would try to kill herself again and that Rem will kill him in retaliation. Face it: you're Light Yagami's daughter and that's all the proof L needs to believe you're a threat._

Mizuki had to stop herself from throwing something. _I am **not** my father, I am **not** a murderer, I am **not** Kira!_

This had been going on for six months now. Six months of being spied on, six months of being gently reminded by Uncle Matsu to keep her eyes down when out in public, and six months of waiting for and dreading the day she was inevitably stolen away again--by Kira or by L, it didn't matter. And she was _tired_ of all of it, of the nightmares, of the pitying looks she received from Uncle Matsu and Grandfather when they thought she wouldn't notice, and of sitting around with no control over what happened to her while people were dying.

She grabbed a book from the shelf in the living room and returned to her room.

"'Marley was dead, to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that.'" While a part of her knew that it was silly to read aloud with no one to listen to her (well, no one except the detective spying on her and as far as she knew from the two occasions she had been in his company the only thing he showed interest in that wasn't Kira related was cake), it provided her comfort to hear the words of the story rather than just read them so it served as a helpful coping method when she was upset and there was no one to talk to.

As she finished the first chapter, an idea came to Mizuki, a way reclaim her life so that she would no longer feel helpless: join the Task Force.

The next day after school, she got her chance to act on this idea when her mother told her that she was going to do some Christmas shopping with some old friends in Aoyama and that she wouldn't be home until 8:00 that evening. Once she was sure her mother had gone and left a note claiming that she left her pencil case behind so that L wouldn't immediately catch on to what she was doing and stop her, she set out to look for the Kira Task Force Headquarters, after losing the person sent to follow her in a crowd of Christmas shoppers.

After an hour and a half, she managed to find the building and she went to the door so the camera could see her.

" _Amane-san? What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be heading home?_ "

"Good afternoon, Watari. I apologize for lying about where I was actually going, but this is important. I want to speak with the Task Force if they will allow it."

" _Please wait for a moment._ "

The door opened a few moments later and Mizuki stepped in, knowing that there was a high chance they wouldn't allow her to join but determined to make her case before they completely wrote her off.

* * *

"I came here because I want to help you catch Kira."

After a moment of stunned silence, the objections came out.

"No Mizuki!"

"You're just a kid! And with the Shinigami Eyes you'll effectively be putting a target on your back!"

"Mizuki-chan, it's sweet that you want to help us out, but we don't want to risk you getting captured by Kira again."

"Maybe when you're older you can join, but not right now."

L remained silent, unsure of what answer to give.

While he had no problem with her joining because of her age (he began his career as a detective when he was only three years older than she was), he did not like that Mizuki had somehow managed to bypass all the measures he had put in place for everyone's safety; if one thing had gone wrong for her and he was unable to find her in time, she'd be dead or kidnapped or manipulated( ~~?~~ ) into becoming Kira ~~again~~ and it would be much worse if she joined the Task Force and she continued pulling similar stunts. That, combined with how high-profile she was (with her being the child of a celebrity [two, for the unstable few who view the original Kira as a god]), her complete lack of poker face, and the heachache he would no doubt receive from the Task Force and Watari for allowing a child to join them (especially when the current Kira was targeting children!), made him want to reject her request and send her back home with an escort, preferably one that wouldn't be so easily outmaneuvered by a six-year-old.

However, the two big things that were disqualifying factors in allowing her on the team were also the reasons he himself was already considering asking her to join sometime in the future. The Shinigami Eyes would make it easier to find each Kira since their lifespans were invisible to humans with the Eyes; the only reason that no one on the Task Force currently had them was because the cost and risks outweighed the benefit of being able to find Kira. Since Mizuki was born with them, she would give up nothing and would live a full (and hopefully long) life. And, whether Mizuki (or anyone else for that matter) wanted to admit it or not, she was already showing some similarities to her father which, aside from him being the original Kira and likely the reason he and the Task Force members were trapped in this Sisyphean nightmare, was not necessarily a bad thing.

Mizuki, seeing that L hadn't said anything yet, took her chance to speak.

"I know that all of you are concerned about what will happen if I join. You're worried that I'll put all of you in danger and put myself in danger if any of these Kiras find out that I have Shinigami Eyes, that I'll either be captured and forced into revealing your names or killed on sight. However, as what happened with Yotsuba should prove, I'm in danger whether I join the fight or not; there's no 'off' button for these Eyes so I'll still see names and numbers--or lack of numbers in the case of Kira or another unlucky person born with the Eyes--and depending on how I react they may find out that I know about Death Notes and Kira and some may correctly guess that the reason I know is because you told me. I know that regardless of your decision I need to do a better job of hiding my reactions so that I don't endanger myself or any of you, but I will feel safer if I'm using my Eyes to help you look for Kira so that the Death Notes can be destroyed sooner instead of doing nothing and hoping that I don't end up becoming your damsel in distress again." She looked at L as she said this last sentence, the unspoken "or your murder suspect" evident. _Ah,_ _s_ _o that's what this is about._

"Mizuki, please go--" Yagami started to say, but L cut in.

"Take the elevator to the top floor and wait there. I will let you know what our answer is after we've discussed this."

" ** _RYUZAKI!_** "

"There's no need to shout, especially not in unison."

* * *

Some time (and a couple of aspirin) later, L went upstairs. Mizuki had finished her homework during this time and appeared to be discussing one of the books she was reading with Watari in his office when L came in.

"We've decided to give you a chance. However, there are several conditions for this trial period. First, unless it is an emergency such as someone actively threatening your life or you happen to see Kira in person, you cannot come here by yourself. While you did well to make sure no one saw you come here today and this building is secure, you might not be so lucky next time and we don't want people to know where our headquarters is. Either Matsuda or Watari will bring you here when we have suspects for you to look at--through photos and surveillance footage of course--and will take you home afterwards. Otherwise, you will continue to live life as you currently do.

"Which brings me to the next condition: you will remain under surveillance for the time being and you can't ditch the person assigned to follow you. I understand that you don't like this and I apologize for making you uncomfortable, but it is important now more than ever that you're safe since there is currently an active Kira and they have shown that they will not hesitate to attack children. Once they're gone or Japan has been ruled out as their location, I'll remove the cameras from your home.

"And the final and most important condition is that you cannot let anyone outside of the Task Force find out you have Shinigami Eyes. You have enough sense not to blurt out a name that was never told to you, at least when you're not having a meltdown, but you need to do a better job of not staring at people's names and lifespans and controlling your facial expressions so that other people can't guess what you're thinking. While people who don't know about Kira will dismiss it as shyness or autism--the latter of which might be true for you, but I'm not a psychiatrist--people who do know about Death Notes will realize what is actually happening. And there are some out there who know despite not having a Death Note themselves that, under certain circumstances, can be just as dangerous as Kira. We can help you practice so that you have a lower chance of getting caught, but if at anytime during this investigation Kira or a Kira sympathizer or even someone who opposes Kira finds out about your secret, you're off the team and you will not be invited back until you are an adult. Do you understand, Amane-san?"

"Yes, Ryuzaki."

"Good. Now, before you go home, I need to tell you what we know so far about the current Kira, who Matsuda has dubbed 'Kira Claus.' They started killing in late November, shortly after Thanksgiving. They mostly target adult criminals, but they have also killed an alarmingly high amount of people between the ages of three and twenty. Their modus operandi is to use the winter environment and Christmas decorations to kill their victims. Most of the deaths appear to be in America, but we haven't confirmed yet that Kira is American. We do not yet know if they have made the trade for Shinigami Eyes, but as a precaution it is advised that all Task Force members avoid appearing in any social media posts--where Matsuda has speculated is where Kira is looking for victims--or televised broadcasts so that Kira can't get their names. It is especially important for you to do the same as them--"

"--because if Kira has Shinigami Eyes and they see that I have no lifespan, they'll either realize I have Shinigami Eyes or assume that I'm Kira too. The nickname Uncle Matsu gave them implies that they're acting like the Santa character and targeting everyone they think is a bad person regardless of age. So if they think I'm Kira, they'll view that as bad behavior and put my name on their 'naughty list' and kill me. A bit dishonest since by that logic they should write their own name down in the Death Note just for using it, but I doubt they'll realize it."

"Correct. Though it may be difficult for you to avoid the cameras entirely since I heard from Matsuda that your mother is going to be involved with a live TV special on Christmas Eve night."

Mizuki nodded. "An adaptation of the Nutcracker and the Mouse King. She told me that it was her favorite story to hear on Christmas when she was a child. She's playing Marie while Hideki Ryuga plays the Nutcracker."

"Are you involved in any way?"

"All the actors and their families will come onto the stage at the end of the show to wish everyone a Merry Christmas."

"Then we must act quickly. If Kira is not caught by Christmas Eve, you must do whatever you can so your face does not appear on camera. Fake an illness, leave the set, wear an oversized hat, just make sure you're not seen."

"I understand, Ryuzaki. I'll be careful. Thank you for the warning. And thank you and the rest of the Task Force for giving me a chance."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *sigh* "Write a Christmas tie-in to the radio drama you're working on!" my Muse said. "It will be great!" she said. And of course it's not finished; didn't even get the second chapter up until the day after Christmas. I wanted this story to be a little longer and delve into character drama, but then I accidentally deleted the first chapter and had to get it back up quickly before I lost everything (thank goodness for back buttons on mobile) and then I found that I had to rewrite this chapter since I realized that I was telling THREE stories in trying to explain Mizuki's situation when I'm only supposed to be telling one. Add in my work (spent about twelve hours in Mississippi for work last Saturday, my laptop needing to be replaced since I spilled hot chocolate on my old one and completely wrecked the hard-drive, and the reception was garbage so I couldn't go online to work on my story or even text anyone) and tendency to get distracted, obsessed with perfectionism, or just not feeling like writing, and that leads to the story first needing to be cut down and then not even be able to finish that little bit in time. I will finish this story since I already decided to tie-it in with my other story (and at the very least, it will ensure it's ready for next Christmas [or Christmas in July, if you're into that]), but lesson learned: unless it's a short and sweet little one-shot, no more holiday specific fanfics.
> 
> I hope that Mizuki is a good character. This is the first time I'm using her since in Death Note: Legacy (the project I'm working on), she hasn't appeared yet and is meant to be a supporting character so all I had were unfinished character notes.
> 
> Anyway, 2020 is almost over. It's been a long and miserable year for everyone with all the death, the disappointment, and just an overall struggle of figuring out how to live in this new reality, especially if you live in America where there are some people who at best are ignorant and at worst selfish, spiteful, and out of touch with reality. (Not even Christmas is safe from the misery since on Christmas morning, someone blew up an RV in Nashville [as far as I know, no one died, but there were injuries and a lot of people likely just lost their jobs because of the destruction; if you are from Nashville, I hope that you are doing okay and I hope that whoever was responsible is caught and sent to jail]). But there is hope since some countries have managed to get Covid 19 under control and a vaccine on the way (or depending on where you are is already there). Hopefully, by the end of next year, the situation will have improved and we will learn from this experience.
> 
> Have a very Happy New Year and stay safe.


End file.
